This invention relates to a machine for sorting objects flat in shape, such as postal envelopes for instance; whereby the sorting operation is performed according to criteria related to the nature of these objects: indexing code, morphology, all kinds of marking, or according to a simple counting.
This invention relates more especially to a sorting machine designed particularly for preparing and scheduling the postmen's round.
Usually, all those operations consisting in preparing a postman's round are performed manually, most of the time by the postman himself who, to this end, has a work station provided with pigeonholes which he uses to sort the mail.
This invention provides a sorting machine, similar to office equipment, and designed more especially to improve the quality of service, of productivity, by automating the mail processing tasks.
This machine may notably be ideal for instance for sorting and pigeonholing small format mail, ranging between 90.times.140 mm and 165.times.235 mm with maximum thickness of 7 mm.
The mail can be sorted using the indexing code affixed on the envelope in the form of fluorescent sticks, and according to the conventional principles of fragmented sorting and of reverse sorting.
The machine according to the invention may find many applications. Indeed, it can be suited to sorting and selection criteria adapted to objects other than simple mail, such as bundles of cheques or documents of all kinds liable to be inserted in addition to the postman's round.
The machine according to the invention also benefits, because of its contemplated application, from a compact architecture and a particularly ergonomic arrangement in order to facilitate the operator's work.
This machine comprises, generally:--a hopper to receive the stack of envelopes to be sorted,--an extraction head to pick up the envelopes one by one from one of the ends of the stack,--a conveyor interposed between the said extraction head and the pigeonholes of the sorted envelopes,--a device for locating and reading the sorting criterion, that is to say the indexing code, most of the time,--a junction system in order to direct the envelopes toward the said pigeonholes according to their indexing code and--a control panel. As this machine is more particularly suited for preparing and scheduling the delivery rounds, it shows a peculiar architecture and it comprises particularly, arranged in a compact and ergonomic fashion, in the standard operator work space:
a hopper located at standard table height in the front section of the machine, in order to receive the stack of envelopes which is placed horizontally and extends to form a facade between the control panel and the extraction head, PA0 a set of pigeonholes for sorted envelopes, whose number is sufficient for the preparation of a postman's round, whereby the said pigeonholes are located behind the transparent panel, behind one another, horizontally and on several levels, above the level of the hopper and slightly retracted in order to enable easy pick-up of the sorted envelopes located in the said pigeonholes, in order for instance to position them again in the hopper for a new sorting sequence, whereas the pigeonholes are supplied by a conveyor whose path is such that the sorted envelopes are inserted into the said pigeonholes according to an orientation corresponding to that they have in the hopper at the departure of the said conveyor. PA0 a conveyor whose speed can the adjustable, which enables to forward the envelopes widthwise, from the hopper where they are stacked to their pigeonholes and,--means for reading the indexing code according to a parallel mode taking into account that the indexing sticks are oriented in the same direction as that of the motion of the said envelopes. PA0 computer-aided means for memorising the sorting plane, e.g. the destination of the objects, envelopes or others, according to the selection criteria and, whereas the destination corresponds to a pigeonhole on the machine, PA0 computer-aided means for processing information from the code reading head, in order to ascribe a location to the objects and especially to the envelope, according to its code, that is to say to ascribe to it the destination materialised by a pigeonhole, and this as soon as the object has passed in front of the reading head, PA0 computer-aided means enabling to convert the location especially the number of the pigeonhole, into the distance to be run in order to reach the pigeonhole, PA0 an optic encoder type pulse generator, associated with the envelope conveying system which enables to determine the distances run, PA0 a device for triggering the pulse countdown, such as a photocell, located slightly downstream of the reading head, PA0 a comparing device which enables to direct the object towards the appropriate pigeonhole, when the number of pulses counted corresponds to that which enables to reach the pigeonhole ascribed to the envelope. PA0 a stop in the form of a plate extending into the bottom of the hopper, located slightly beneath the bearing plane of the envelopes, PA0 a flexible tongue, made of high friction coefficient material, arranged beneath the stop, in order to retain the envelopes which might have escaped from the latter, the drawer is pushed elastically and permanently towards the punched tape and retracts automatically when an envelope passes and is driven by the punched tape clue to a depression effect, whereby the brackets of the drawer are preferably articulated around an axis perpendicular to the forwarding direction of the stack in order to enable its retraction, in the space located at the end of the hopper, in anticipation of adjustment or replacement of the said tongue or possibly to facilitate the access to this zone in case of incidents such as jamming. PA0 a first conveyor arranged downstream of the extraction head, which picks up the envelopes at the output of the said head and in which these envelopes move along a line which is located on a plane parallel to the base plane of the hopper, PA0 a second conveyor, arranged behind and in the clearance of the hopper, constituting a twisting module and enabling the envelopes to switch from moving on a plane parallel to the base plane of the hopper to moving on a plane which is vertical and parallel to the front of the machine, PA0 an intermediate conveyor extending from the twisting module up to the reading head which brings back the envelopes onto a side of the machine, PA0 a junction and distribution conveyor, comprising a vertical portion on the side of the machine and then extending horizontally, so as to form a facade on the machine, in order to supply at least one of the horizontal lines of pigeonholes, whereas the conveyors are generally made, with the exception of the twisting conveyor, of several belts distributed over the width of the machine, guided over small diameter rollers or cylinders in the rectilinear portions and over small diameter drums at the turning points, whereas the belts enable to transport the envelopes by pinching between the active sizes of two belts arranged opposite one another forming on either of the path of the said envelopes an internal wall and an external wall, whereby the transversal distance between the belts is smaller than the dimension of the great side of the smallest envelope, in order to forward the envelopes inside the machine, widthwise.
According to a preferred arrangement of the invention, the machine comprises:
This particularity relating to the conveying mode enables to improve the sorting speed; indeed the number of envelopes per linear meter is greater that when the envelopes are conveyed widthwise. When changing directions, it is also possible to accept small diameter drums, smaller than 200 mm for instance.
Besides, the reading system in the parallel mode accepts perfectly very high speeds, further notably to the very quick acquisition of the indexing code in its entirety.
This conveying mode also enables to reach the degree of compactness necessary to a machine designed for offices. As the density of objects to be sorted per linear meter is rather large, it is possible to reduce to the maximum the pitch of the junctions and consequently to have a larger number of pigeonholes available for sorting.
Still according to the invention, the indexing code reading system of the envelopes comprises:--a source for energising the fluorescent sticks which have been arranged on the address side of the envelope, whereby the source is made of a halogen lamp type light box, provided with filters in order to restrict the beam transmitted to the usefull spectrum,--means in the form of optic fibre bundles used to perform an anamorphosis between the circular output of the said light box and a lighting zone located at the level of the reading window arranged on the conveyor and whose sizes correspond at least to those of the frame containing the sticks on the envelope,--a camera comprising a CCD bar composed of several hundred pixels and especially elongated type pixels in the forwarding direction of the sticks and whose length is in the order of three times the width.
Still according to the invention, the reading system comprises means for self detection of the presence of an envelope in the reading window, whereby the means are preferably made of a fixed screen arranged at the level of the window, behind the conveying line, whereas the screen supports a reflector which, lit by the energising source of the envelopes' sticks, provides with an image which indicates the absence or the presence of an envelope, and then enables to start reading the code, if needed.
According to an alternative, the screen comprises at least one light-emitting diode whose image is received by the camera if no envelopes are present.
This self-detection system also enables to provide with information regarding the morphology of the envelope or of the object, e.g. its height, and enables to sort the objects according to their height.
According to another alternative, the screen comprises two light-emitting diodes, at a transversal distance from one another. This particularity enables to detect the position of the envelopes in the conveyor, when passing in front of the camera. Processing the information in question enables to orientate automatically the uncertain envelopes towards a rejection or recycle pigeonhole.
Still according to the invention, using several light-emitting diodes arranged transversally in front of the camera may allow to select objects, envelopes or others according to a length criterion.
Still according to the invention, the machine comprises a system for monitoring and controlling various mechanisms, which operates according to a data transmission mode in standard numeric form, whereby the system comprises:
The monitoring and control system of the machine advantageously simplifies considerably the forwarding process of the envelopes towards their pigeonholes, and this simplification is due to the compactness of the machine and especially to the distance, relatively small, which is run by the envelopes once their code has been read. The variation risks between the theoretical distances calculated by the computer and the distances actually run by the envelopes are consequently very limited.
The general architecture of the machine also enables easy handing of bundles of letters, as well as for parcels to be inserted into the hopper as for the parcels already sorted in order to put them back into the hopper. The configuration of the pigeonholes also enables, in case of successive sorting operations, to position quite easily, without any risk of mistake, the parcels, which have already been sorted.
The sizes of the machine can be selected according to the requirements. The pigeonholes of the sorted envelopes can extend over several levels, two or three for instance and the number, horizontally, may, thanks to a certain modularity of the machine, range between 10 and 30 for example. Thus it is provided with 20 to 90 pigeonholes according to the situation required.
The reliability and the efficiency of a sorting machine depend directly on the efficiency of each device it contains. First of all, they are linked to the quality of the stack placed in the hopper.
Whether small format envelopes, flat objects or cheque forms, these objects must be positioned with a great accuracy into the hopper in order to be then extracted, conveyed, decoded and then channelled towards the pigeonholes.
In order to produce a very high quality stack, let alone perfect, without calling for excessive operator's attention or rigour, the hopper according to the invention comprises--a bearing plane on which rests a large side of each object, of each envelope, and--a base or reference plane, arranged as a shoulder, and on which rests a small of the envelope, whereby the said planes form a dihedron whose edge is horizontal, whereby the dihedron is tilted in order to make the mean diagonal of the envelopes spectrum, extending from the edge of the dihedron, match the vertical axis.
This hopper enables advantageously natural positioning of the envelopes or objects to be classified onto both reference planes; indeed, these envelopes tend to bear on both these planes by their own weights.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the length of the hopper is such that it may receive at least the equivalent of a postman's round, e.g. approximately 1500 correspondence envelopes. The hopper extends preferably on the larger section of the machine, beneath the pigeonholes. But it can also contain a portion, which is static, where the envelopes are simply positioned in waiting, and a dynamic section, where the envelopes are moved towards the extraction head. This dynamic hopper comprises:--conveyor belts with endless tapes, mounted on free cylinders and whose active sides make up the walls of the base and bearing planes and,--a pusher guided on a rail parallel to the said belts which tend to move automatically the active edges and the stack of envelopes toward the extraction head, whereby the pusher is connected to means which maintain substantially constant a pressure between the stack and the envelopes extraction head.
Still according to the invention, the pusher actuation means comprise of a traction cable which is anchored at one of its ends on the pusher and which is provided, at its other end, with a weighting body moving vertically, whereby the weighting body comprises a primary mass moving vertically over a distance which corresponds to half that of the pusher, and a plurality of small masses spaced vertically on the end of the traction cable between the said primary mass and a resting surface on which they land as the length of the envelopes stack diminishes in the hopper.
The quality of the sorting operation also depends on the regularity of the train of envelopes, conveyed towards the reading head. This train of envelopes is produced at the output of the hopper using the extraction head and which may attain the speed of 20 envelopes per second.
The envelopes can the extracted at either end of the hopper. As the envelopes maintain the same direction in the hopper, de-stacking is performed either on the facade or the back of the envelope. De-stacking on the back of the envelopes enables to detect and to process more easily tiling phenomena while orienting the envelopes affected towards particular pigeonholes from which they will be re-processed at a later stage.
According to the invention, the extraction head comprises an endless tape, motorised and punched, which emerges in a suction window arranged at the level of the wall making up the end of the hopper, whereas the window is located upstream of the conveyor in such a way that the distance between the active upper section of the window where the envelope starts to be sucked up, and the zone where the envelope is picked up, driven by the punched tape, be smaller than the minimal size of the envelopes according to their direction when they are extracted from the hopper by the punched tape.
Still according to the invention, the envelopes are picked up at the output of the extraction head, by a pinching effect and energetically by the active edges of a pair of belts which are part of the conveyor, whereas the belts are arranged in the alignment of the punched tape of the extraction head, forming a kind of funnel centered around the middle axis of the said tape according to the forwarding direction, in order to maintain the envelopes into the proper direction as they are extracted from the hopper and in order to prevent a torque effect, e.g. to prevent the envelopes from tipping over or pivoting.
According to another embodiment of the invention, in order to prevent several envelopes from being extracted, the punched tape of the extraction head works together with a separating device arranged at the level of the downstream end of the hopper, whereas the said device comprises a drawer which is mobile, guided into a direction which corresponds to the forwarding direction of the stack, whereby the drawer is connected to a bracket mounted at the bottom of the hopper and comprises:
According to another embodiment of the invention, the endless punched tape of the extraction head has a length greater than the perimeter of the extraction head in order to enable it to pass around the head and to facilitate any change or replacement, whereby the tape is stretched and guided over rollers and according to a U-shaped path, whereby the roller guiding the tape at the bottom of a U-shaped path can be removed in order to release the tape, after release of the tension device.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the envelope conveying line comprises:
According to another embodiment of the invention, each conveyor comprises preferably non-extensible driving belts while the driven belts are made of a more flexible material in order to absorb any possible thickness variations of the envelopes, without disturbing the driving process, whereas the driving belts are preferably arranged inside the curves in order to limit the traction and deformation loads exerted onto the back of the envelopes.
Still according to the invention, the conveying line of the first conveyor comprises :--an internal wall made of endless belts, spaced and stretched between an intake suction cylinder located beneath the extraction head, and a downstream cylinder located at the level of the twisting module passing over a drum, whereas one of the belts is located in the alignment of the punched tape of the extraction head, and,--an external wall made of endless belts arranged opposite those of the external wall and which are only stretched between the drum and a downstream cylinder on the one hand, and a simple endless belt, arranged in the alignment of the punched tape of the head, on the other hand, opposite the belt of the internal wall, stretched between the said drum and an upstream roller located at the level of the extraction head beneath the end of a hopper.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the twisting module is made of a small diameter circular section endless belt, interposed between the first conveyor and the intermediate conveyor, in order to form a continuity, whereas the belt is supported by rollers and works together with pressure devices constituting one of the walls of the guiding path, whereby the devices are similar to castors of flexible material, forcing against the belt at the level of the rollers, the assembly formed by the belt and the flexible castors thus guiding and maintaining the envelopes along a longitudinal axis, on the side of their base edge, the other of the said envelopes being simply guided using smooth fixed rails interposed between the downstream section of the first conveyor and the upstream section of the intermediate conveyor.
Still according to the invention, the intermediate conveyor extends between the twisting module and the junction conveyor and comprises, on its path, according to one of the embodiments, a re-jogging device working together with the corresponding to the base edge of the envelope, whereas the said device is constituted of a wall perpendicular to the circulation plane of the envelopes, arranged on the of the edge belts of the said intermediate conveyor, whereby the re-jogging wall comprises an upstream section converging toward the said belts and a downstream section rigorously parallel to the edge belts in order to progressively lift up the said envelopes which might have been arranged slantwise, incidentally, on the said conveyor, whereas the envelopes can be lifted up because they can pivot when they are pinched between the edge belts, while the other belts of the conveyor are kept under pressure or pulled away from one another in order to release the other side of the envelope, over the length of the path which corresponds substantially to the length of the re-jogging device.
Still according to the invention, the re-jogging wall is made of a simple sheet or of an endless tape which travels at the same speed as the envelopes.
According to an embodiment, the re-jogging device is arranged upstream of the twisting module, integrated to the first conveyor, in its downstream section.
According to one of the embodiments of the invention, the junction conveyor comprises a primary junction in order to supply two conveying and distribution lines, whereas the lines are superimposed, parallel to one another and extend to form a facade in order to supply two levels of pigeonholes, whereas the upstream primary junction is arranged in the vertical lateral section of the machine, on the extraction head side and comprises:--a rectilinear path in the alignment of the downstream section of the intermediate conveying line, to supply the upper conveying and distribution line and,--a slightly tilted path, oriented toward the lower conveying line and distribution line, whereby orientation toward the lower line is made using a deflecting device constituting the junction, whereas the device is actuated by appropriate electromagnetic means.
According to another embodiment, the junction conveyor can be shared into three conveying and distribution lines of the envelopes, whereas the lines are horizontal, superimposed, each corresponding to a set of pigeonholes; the said lines are supplied by two primary junctions arranged in the vertical side of the conveyor.
Still according to the invention, each conveying and distribution line comprises:--endless belts spaced transversally, forming the upper wall, stretched and guided by cylinders and,--endless belts delineating the lower wall, guided over cylinders, whereas the lower belts are separated by windows to allow the passage of envelopes whose sizes are suited to the format of the latter, whereas the envelopes are oriented toward the appropriate pigeonholes using a junction device designated hereafter deflecting device, which deviates the envelope from its horizontal rectilinear normal path in order to orient it downward, guided at first by a fixed plate deflector, then by a flap which on the one hand, transports the envelope to a truly corresponding pigeonhole and, on the other hand, contributes to forming a tidy or sequenced stack, in the pigeonhole.
Still according to the invention, each deflecting device is arranged opposite the deviated line with respect to the rectilinear conveying line; it is actuated by an electromagnet and comprises a wall which is mobile around an axis perpendicular to the forwarding direction of the envelopes, between an inactive deviation position which enables the envelopes to follow a rectilinear path and an active deflecting device position causing the envelopes to change direction, whereby the deviator wall is constituted by the upstream face of small inertia parts, arranged transversally, over the width of the conveyor, between the belts.
Still according to the invention, the tip over axis of the deflecting device is arranged downstream of its deviation wall, above the conveying line of the envelopes. It is substantially centered in the plane forming with the deviation wall, when the latter is in active position, a dihedron whose edge is on the conveying line and whose bisecting plane corresponds to the horizontal conveying line; this position of the tip over axis prevents, when the envelope bumps into the wall, from causing any torque which might oppose the motion of the deflecting device. This axis is also positioned to enable quick return of the deflecting device to an inactive position as soon as the leading edge of the envelope is picked up by the fixed deflector, whereby the quick return is made possible because the delecting device is not subject to any return load.
This very quick return of the deflecting device advantageously, in case of envelopes tiling, lets the second envelope go into a pigeonhole designed for receiving the refuse; this pigeonhole can be arranged for instance at the end of the conveying line. This suppresses any risks of pollution or mistake in the pigeonhole into which the previous envelopes was channelled.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the flap of each pigeonhole is articulated at its upper section by an axis arranged beneath the level of the fixed deflector and beneath the upper section of the said flap in order to give to the latter, when the envelope bumps into the upper section, a pulse causing the flap to rotate around its axis in order to lift up quickly the envelope which had been sent to the bottom of the pigeonhole, thus creating immediately a space between the envelope and the flap in order to accommodate the following envelope which will be then positioned in a tidy or sequenced fashion, in the pigeonhole situated behind the previous envelope, with no risk of been inserted inside the stack which is formed in the pigeonhole in question.
Still according to the invention, the external belts of the distribution paths are guided at their downstream end by a tension device, whereas the device can be disengaged so that the external and internal belts may be sufficiently slack to facilitate any intervention in case of jamming or other incidents.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the external belts of the distribution paths are forced against the internal belts by rollers arranged between the guiding rollers the said internal belts, in order to initiate of motion tending to lift up the leading edge of the envelopes and to facilitate the passage across the junction windows whereby the pressure rollers are preferably combined two by two by arms forming a kind of bogie articulated on the axis of a roller which supports the inactive side of the external belt.
Still according to the invention, the pigeonholes of the sorted envelopes are arranged in the form of baskets, whereas the baskets are supported by brackets which enable to remove them directly from the front, each basket comprising for instance five pigeonholes and each pigeonhole corresponding to a handful of some 120 envelopes, the baskets being preferably two in number for each level and each level comprising in addition to the baskets, a fixed additional pigeonhole to accommodate the sorting refuse; this additional pigeonhole being arranged at the end of the conveying and distribution line.